According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), New York, NY (LGA) ranks #11 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). New York, NY posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.
Compare LGA to another hub, filter routes, or browse airline stats without leaving this profile.
LGA on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes: 11,258,357.
Late Aircraft41.0% (4,612,657 min)
Carrier30.2% (3,403,992 min)
NAS (National Aviation System)23.9% (2,695,928 min)
Weather4.7% (529,840 min)
Security0.1% (15,940 min)
LGA - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: September (92.7%) · worst: July (88.1%)
LGA - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
LGA - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 24.6 min · taxi-in 8.1 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
LGA's average taxi-out (24.6 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is October 2025 at 30.8 min; the lightest is March 2024 at 21.5 min.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for New York, NY, both outside New York so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at New York, NY is traffic scale: 1,574,867 BTS flights (2020–2025) place it #11 of 382 by book size. That busy-book footprint sits beside a 81.2% on-time rate (2.2 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average), 295,934 delayed departures, and 28,401 cancellations (1.80% of the book).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (41.0% late-aircraft, 30.2% carrier, 23.9% NAS, 4.7% weather, 0.1% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, LGA is strongest in September (92.7% on-time) and weakest in July (88.1%), a 4.6-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~24,150 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ORD (Chicago) at 78.2% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
New York, NY vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
81.2%Top 76%higher than 24% of 382 airports
New York, NY
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
LGA's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from LGA before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in September rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. October 2025 averaged 30.8 min. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is New York, NY's on-time rate?
New York, NY (LGA) has a 81.2% on-time rate across 1,574,867 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2.2 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does LGA rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
New York, NY ranks #11 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it one of the busiest U.S. airports.
What's the most common cause of delays at New York, NY?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at LGA, accounting for 41.0% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 41.0% late-aircraft, 30.2% carrier, 23.9% NAS/air-traffic-control, 4.7% weather, and 0.1% security.
When is the best time to fly through New York, NY?
September is historically LGA's strongest month at 92.7% on-time, while July is the weakest at 88.1%, a 4.6-point swing across the BTS historical record.
Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights